Vatican City, Jan 29, 2016 / 10:45 am
During his July visit to Poland for World Youth Day, it's probable that Pope Francis will follow in the steps of his two immediate predecessors by traveling to the Nazi death camp Auschwitz, the Vatican spokesman has said.
Fr. Federico Lombardi, SJ, told journalists at the Jan. 27 presentation of the book "We were Jews" by 90-year-old Holocaust survivor Alberto Mieli that a summer visit to Auschwitz for the Pope is "highly probable."
Pope Francis is scheduled to be in Poland for the July 25-31 World Youth Day – the first since the canonization of St. John Paul II in 2014.
Auschwitz, the German name for the Polish town Oswiecim where the camp is located, sits roughly 40 miles from Krakow. At least 1.1 million people died in the camp during its years of operation, 1940-1945.